[carhead]

Media reports mention that Honda India is earning profits over past 2 years.

In fact FY 23-24 net profit was Rs 641 Cr.

While exports must be a major filip, it beats me how the channel is surviving with less than monthly 5000 sales.

Interestingly I haven't seen any dealers close down recently in NCR past 2 years. What's the secret sauce to channel retention?

Well done Honda.At the end of the day for a private organisation profit matters.

[hondadriver]

Originally Posted by ryzen7@5800u

Have a few questions for Elevate MT owners -

What's the performance like at lower RPMs? Dad usually shifts at 2000-2300 rpm (holdover from Indica Petrol that runs out of steam beyond 3000) and he's concerned from reading spec sheets that Elevate has lower peak torque figures than the turbocharged competitors.

What's the fuel economy like in the city/highway? Not looking to cruise at any speed higher than 100 km/h.

How's the AC like during the summers?

Hoping to convince Dad to consider the Elevate more seriously

Honda Elevate has close gear ratios (as compared to the city). It pulls well in low rpms.

Since this engine redlines at ~7k rpm, I like to upshift at 3.5k ( or 4.5k rpms if I am in a hurry).

I am getting 11kmpl in NCR driving. I drive mostly less than 10km in a start-stop trip.

The AC worked very well in the summers that just went. No worries there.

The turbocharged competitors typically have lower torque in the lower rpms (turbos need to spool properly to make a difference). And their redline is nowhere close to 7k rpm.

So all in all, the Elevate is a good performer in traffic (if you are ready to upshift at 4.5k rpms).

[Alive2Drive]

Originally Posted by carhead

Media reports mention that Honda India is earning profits over past 2 years.

In fact FY 23-24 net profit was Rs 641 Cr.

While exports must be a major filip, it beats me how the channel is surviving with less than monthly 5000 sales.

Interestingly I haven't seen any dealers close down recently in NCR past 2 years. What's the secret sauce to channel retention?

Well done Honda.At the end of the day for a private organisation profit matters.

The secret of their success is the high volume of exports. Their domestic performance is bad however the exports have resulted in Honda Cars india being profitable. Similar is the situation for VW and Skoda as well. These 2 brands are well above the target of exports compared to others OEMs.

[Circuit10]

Hello folks,
Please help me overcome this peculiar problem -
My car has suddenly started beeping (making alarm noise same as not wearing seat belt) whenever I open the driver side door after I turn off the ignition, put into P mode. It does go off when I close the door. Earlier this used to not happen. I haven’t changed any settings too!

[ComboCutter]

Originally Posted by Circuit10

Hello folks,
Please help me overcome this peculiar problem -
My car has suddenly started beeping (making alarm noise same as not wearing seat belt) whenever I open the driver side door after I turn off the ignition, put into P mode. It does go off when I close the door. Earlier this used to not happen. I haven’t changed any settings too!

Anything on the seats (passenger or rear)?

[msudhir]

Originally Posted by ac 427

The Elevate is the second honda in the house, the first was the brio. 12 years of hassle free ownership.
That was the only reason why we got the Elevate.

You are correct - the elevate from a build quality isnt as good as the earlier Hondas.
For the outside noise, I installed sound damping in all the 4 doors (not in the bonnet).
the sound damping has helped in the following.
1. Sound insulation. I can guess there is a 50% reduction in noise. And I have done single sound insulation, if you do double insultation - the result will be better.
2. Better Sound: The stock sound system sounds so much better after the damping.
3. The 'Thud': the doors now close with a resounding thud, and not clank - we are used to with the elevate.

Safe drives.
Best,
Ac

On My Elevate we Mostly see 8.5 to 9.0 km / ltr in the city and even with conservative driving we get about 15kmpl. This i feel is on the lower side

[Circuit10]

Originally Posted by ComboCutter

Anything on the seats (passenger or rear)?

No. It stopped automatically after I changed the light setting to default. I guess probably the light button was not set to auto hence the alarm.

[Dsanji]

Originally Posted by msudhir

On My Elevate we Mostly see 8.5 to 9.0 km / ltr in the city and even with conservative driving we get about 15kmpl. This i feel is on the lower side

Hmm I always get more than 11 in city and 19-20 on highways if I maintain 80-85 speed.

[ashokabs]

HONDA ELEVATE – HIGHWAY DRIVING EXPERIENCE WITH ADAS

I recently travelled from Delhi to Dehradun in my Honda Elevate ZX MT. I am writing about some behaviour of the vehicle which might help a potential buyer make a more informed decision. The trip was for 4 days. My wife and I were the passengers. There was a medium sized and one small suitcase. Of course there was my golf set. My friend insisted that I play a couple of rounds with him.

I was driving throughout the journey. I filled up the tank till the pump cut off. This is my normal routine as I don’t like fuel spilling over. The tyre pressure was the only other check I made prior to the journey. The Elevate has so far done approx. 4800 km between end Mar 24 when purchased and till 9th Nov. We don’t do much driving in Delhi.

Departure from our residence was scheduled for 7am on Nov 8th. We left pretty much on time and there was not much traffic in Delhi or on the Meerut Expressway. Our route was via Haridwar as this does not have congested cities where delays can occur. It is slightly longer but avoids going through small towns.

On the Meerut expressway which is a wide 6 lane highway there was little traffic. I tried out the Adaptive Cruise Control adjusting the speed for 85 km/hr even though the speed limit was 100 km/hr. The typical situation here is that no one follows the rules. Trucks can be in any of the lanes and so can slower vehicles. The general method employed for speedy driving is to overtake from whichever side has room. This resulted in the cars moving in a ‘Brownian’ like motion. If you remember your Physical Chemistry Brownian Motion is the random movement of molecules in liquids or gases. This is an exact description of the highway.

This creates a problem for Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). If you are behind a car being driven at 85 km/hr and it suddenly goes into another lane you might find the car ahead of you at only 75 km/hr. So, you also swerve into what looks like a faster lane. This is repeated endlessly. Yes there is some benefit of ACC as for some stretches it relieves the stress on your feet. However, to drive at the speed limit is almost impossible unless you take charge from ACC and drive manually.

One can get stretches of 5 km where you can follow patiently behind someone. Otherwise you are compelled to bow your head to Brownian Motion. The other problem is that if you have to overtake trucks you have to swerve to – preferably the right lane – and increase your speed manually. If you depend on ACC to increase your speed the car coming behind you in the lane will get bugged as you gain speed. Then you can latch on to another car and back to ACC.

Lane Keep Assist (LKA) works well all the time and is a boon if you are chatting or feeling a bit drowsy. Though I would insist that if you are drowsy just pull into a layby or petrol pump and sleep it off for 15 or 20 mins.

The real fun starts when you are driving in a 2 or 4 lane highway. Here the scooters, cyclists and a variety of other vehicles are permitted. Each time motorcyclist(s) or similar small two wheelers appears in the adjacent lane nearer to your side the car often slows down dramatically to forestall a collision. This depends on the proximity of the smaller vehicle. This is very disturbing and can be dangerous as well if the vehicle behind is tailgating you. Tailgating is not uncommon on Indian roads.

The Collision Mitigation System (CMS) is very sensitive to people driving close to your lane. It can give you a heart attack at any time. ACC can be used for shorter stretches on the 4 lane highways but not at all on the two lane highways.

Still I did not switch the CMS off. However, I was very aware of taking control as soon as the orange light in the dashboard would light up. It does make driving a bit of a chore but I felt on balance if it could save me from a collision even once it is worth it.

On balance I would say that there is a reasonable benefit of using ACC on the 6 lane Expressways and it can reduce your fatigue quite a bit. On the MT since one is usually in 5th gear most of the time there is an efficiency hit probably when the car accelerates sharply.

The Elevate drivers seat and front passenger seats are very comfortable, at least for a person of my height 1.69M. The gear lever is ergonomically placed though I would have preferred shorter throws. The clutch is reasonably light and the brakes are really good. One has to shift up quickly from first to third and then speed up and change straight to 5th gear. There is little point in going through 4th gear unless one is going to accelerate sharply. My normal practise is to upshift at around 2000 to 2200 rpm. This gives decent acceleration and decent mileage.

I have no idea if the ACC helps in improved mileage in the chaotic conditions on the road. I could have completed the (outward and return) journey of around 600 km on a full tank. However, I took on 10 L enroute to avoid going too low in the tank. The car accelerates well through the gears and one can go upto 3000 rpm without much of a hit on the efficiency. My average speed during the outward journey which took almost 6 hours was 47 km/hr and on the return journey in 5.5 hours it was 49.5 km/hr.

The suspension is good and we did not feel uncomfortable on any stretch of the journey. As is already known we had the music up loud to drown out the noise of the wind, tyres and the engine.

Summarizing I would say that if you can travel on Expressways and 4 lane National Highways the ADAS has decent utility. However, if you are going to drive on 2 lane roads then the ACC is completely useless. On 4 lane highways and Expressways LKA is very helpful. The CMB is a safety backup that needs some alertness on the part of the driver to disengage it by touching the brake pedal and take manual control.

I have the MT and it was not strenuous as mostly one could drive at 4/5th gear on smaller highways and on 5/6th gear on Expressways.

[akhilshenay]

Does an active community or group for Elevate owners currently exist?

[adi_petrolhead]

My grouse with Honda India and dealership Cartec Honda @ Ahmedabad

I recently bought an Elevate VMT (R) + Apex interior pack. Although the car in itself is an excellent VFM product and has some interesting driving dynamics not expected from crossover, I had a very poor experience with my dealer and Honda India as well.

September 24 was my target to buy a new car and replace my aging Vento TDI done 90K kms in over 12 years. The journey started with finalising and booking an i20 Sports AT, and a lot of to and fro with Suzuki for models like Fronx, XL6 and even the Jimmy (my personal favourite but vetoed by family), I ended up booking the Elevate. The deal was good, and the Apex packs were just launched and mine was the first booking of the Apex edition with the particular dealership. They even invited me for the launch of the Apex Edition but I politely declined as I live about 2 hours away from the dealership showroom.

All this while my SA was polite and and kept me updated about things, everything up to the delivery day went smoothly. I had ordered a few accessories namely LED fog lights, roof rails (missing in V variant), official Honda carpet floor mats and mud flaps. The roof rails came damaged from the factory hence it was re-ordered and the LED fog lights were out of stock with them and were also back ordered.

On delivery day, I was calm and collected, did not want any special celebrations, just needed some time alone with the vehicle and finish the formalities and I couldn't wait to drive the car back home. It was my first manual in years and first experience with Honda and latest gen V-Tec engines.

Everything was okay but as soon as I sat in the car, I saw various scuff marks across the dashboard near the AC vent, and some of the door pads. It was clearly a sign of the poorly installed Apex interior pack that I had opted for. It was evident that the panels were opened using flat head screw drivers and no one cared in their QA team to check on this before delivery. I brought it to the attention of my SA and he assured me that he will get these parts replaced ASAP or during the 1 month / 1000 km inspection. I agreed, took confirmation on WhatsApp and I left with the car.

The real drama started after this. Days and then weeks went by, and the SA was not able to commit to a date when we can get the damaged parts replaced. Even the Hazard light switch was broken while installation of the Apex pack, that too had to be fixed / replaced. The SA then told me "Sir stock ki gadi me se nikal ke laga denge aap gadi bhejo" ( will replace from another stock car). I was beyond furious. I said that if this is your standard practice, I don't know how many parts in my car are from another car which had some problems and I now don't trust your dealership at all. I raised the concern to Honda India and things started to get better. Finally after the Diwali holiday rush, it was decided that my car will be going in on November 13th ( I had already completed the 1 month inspection at a nearby dealership) to the service centre where they will replace all the damaged parts and also the back ordered accessories.

By this time, I had cancelled the roof rails, but only the LED fog lights were remaining to be installed. I asked the SA if everything is in order. He had received the lights, but the cost was quoted to me as 17000/- instead of 13000/- quoted while booking the car. And I had it in writing from him. Again, I kept my calm, and agreed, sent the car to them on the agreed day. The LED fog lights "did not fit" the car. Why? I don't know, but they told me they'll have to order another set and that will take another 15 days. I cancelled the order. I now only wanted them to properly install the damaged parts and make everything in the interior right. To my utter shock and dismay, my driver informed me that the guy installing the parts, had pulled the parts from a stock car and is installing the same in my car. I kept quiet, let them finish the job and got the car back. Then I again wrote to Honda India about this incident, but they did not even give me a reply, only forced the CRM from the dealership to respond vaguely to my questions and allegations. They are "investigating" what went wrong. Till date the email thread remains open and I have lost interest in chasing them. I wanted Honda to take action against the employees / dealer who let these actions take place. But it seems like a lost cause.

The main purpose of writing this post was to warn prospective buyers especially while dealing with the particular dealer Cartec at Ahmedabad, to be aware and try to stay away from said dealer. Even Honda India is not bothered about this event. The shorter the period between your booking and delivery the better. Being located far, I could not personally complete the PDI and this is the result I get. The dealer Cartec is part of a pretty big group of dealers who also run showrooms and service centres for brands like Mahindra, Hyundai, Harley Davidson, MG and Jeep. In fact I bought my first car (Verna crdi) in 2008 from the very same dealer. It's a pity the state of the automotive scene we live in, and I can't imagine how many people till date have been cheated by these type of dealers.

[Circuit10]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

My grouse with Honda India and dealership Cartec Honda @ Ahmedabad

It’s sad to hear such incidents. At a broad level the “chalta hai and jugaad” attitude that we keep boasting about is to be blamed. We think it’s a knight in shining armour but no it’s not! That is why we are not on top of the charts when it comes to following rules, protocols or even SOPs. It’s so ingrained in our culture and society to bend, break, circumvent rules that we have started to believe it’s the norm and status quo.
That is why when we pay for such expensive items we get in return dismissive and poor service throughout. The goal is to make money at all cost and not to retain the customer. I’ve had a similar experience and fought tooth and nail to get my driver side window assembly replaced which got damaged because the door visor was installed so badly that it interfered in the closing of the window! Can you imagine ?!

[carhead]

Originally Posted by Circuit10

It’s sad to hear such incidents. At a broad level the “chalta hai and jugaad” attitude that we keep boasting about is to be blamed. We think it’s a knight in shining armour but no it’s not! That is why we are not on top of the charts when it comes to following rules, protocols or even SOPs. It’s so ingrained in our culture and society to bend, break, circumvent rules that we have started to believe it’s the norm and status quo.
That is why when we pay for such expensive items we get in return dismissive and poor service throughout. The goal is to make money at all cost and not to retain the customer. I’ve had a similar experience and fought tooth and nail to get my driver side window assembly replaced which got damaged because the door visor was installed so badly that it interfered in the closing of the window! Can you imagine ?!

Totally agree.

Pardon my 'rant' in advance. Mods please delete if this is inappropriate. This is not directed solely to this errant dealership. As a nation, our nonchalance towards value-system and ethics is the key reason. Gaming/ beating / circumventing the system is a given and proudly looked up to. As you rightly mention this is so far entrenched in our culture that its expected & accepted at all levels of society.

A car is typically the 2nd most valuable asset after house purchase. Even in such a crucial transaction it is shocking to see how dealers try to misdirect and influence customers. Even now some dealers show logistics charges in price lists. Thats despite multiple court rulings that this is illegal.

Who is the regulatory body to oversee /take action in case of service deficiency? Now, in banks there is RBI, Telecom TRAI. ( Consumer Redressal Forum looks like only option)

Its time for a shift in approach. Thanks.

[Vmk1950]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

My grouse with Honda India and dealership Cartec Honda @ Ahmedabad
...

These days every complaints received through email or phone call are handled by non technical executives of an out sourced contact center company ( In this case the one appointed by Honda). In Earlier days every letter / phone was handled by companies service department through a dedicated person or team. Thats the reason when ever these contact centers get a tricky question, they will simply forward it to the dealer and ask him to resolve. I had similar experience with Tata motors Service six months back. For all my email complaints, even for the one, where only Tata Motors can provide solution, they ( out sourced contact center) kept writing to me that they local dealer will contact and resolve.( And they never contacted me since it was H.O related issue).

One option you could have exercised was to get Honda Motors Regional / Area Service Managers email id and written to him. They will have him in most state capitals.

You can get this in the display board at the dealership.

[NinerWhiskey]

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

I recently bought an Elevate VMT (R) + Apex interior pack. Although the car in itself is an excellent VFM product and has some interesting driving dynamics not expected from crossover, I had a very poor experience with my dealer and Honda India as well.
…
The real drama started after this. Days and then weeks went by, and the SA was not able to commit to a date when we can get the damaged parts replaced.
…
The main purpose of writing this post was to warn prospective buyers especially while dealing with the particular dealer Cartec at Ahmedabad, to be aware and try to stay away from said dealer. Even Honda India is not bothered about this event.

Thanks for sharing, I had similar experience with the ASS when my City was involved in a "very very" minor collision with a two wheeler. The brackets below headlamp broke costing 400 each, the ASS however quoted 17k. They cooked up stories saying bumper will have to be replaced, entire front end will require new parts. There was only ever a scratch on the bumper.

I mailed HCIL and complained regarding the manager as he was not keen on selling me the spare parts and a few days later he ended up calling me and apologizing. In my case HCIL was helpful, even more so because of their involvement in the fair trade policy where apparently by law, they must sell over the counter spare parts. (Learnt from TeamBHP)

I fixed the car myself and miraculously, I managed to not have any gaps between the headlight and bumper as well. Runs fine with no rattles.

As of Dec 2024, HCIL has seemed to have finally started listing spare parts on Boodmo's website. This should be a huge relief.

By nature, HCIL only makes cars and sells it to dealerships, dealerships must meet certain standards in order to become an authorized dealer. This however is flickering. I have seen lot's of Elevate's and City e:hev's collecting dust since a few months in the dealer's stockyard. Neglected, This will bring up issues such as rusting, paint fade sooner than expected. HCIL needs to be stricter with such dealers.

The mechanics at my local Honda ASS have all moved to VAG. Every mechanic is new. I am losing interest in my ASS. I hope to see Honda fix this as a lot of competition lies ahead. Our auto policies are decades old as it is with aviation as well. We need stricter laws on the consumers side.